Help! I'm gaining weight

S

shopgirl

Cathlete
So ... I work out to Cathe 6 days a week (mixing up all the workouts), follow the Body for Life program pretty closely (3 days weights, 3 days cardio)(5 small meals - each half protein/half carb), drink tons of water, caloric intake is about 1400-1700 daily, and I'm gaining weight. Had my thyroid checked and it isn't that. My uppper body is lean, the problem is my lower body, specifically hips and thighs (symptoms sound familiar to anybody?) I turned 40 in June, so I expected my metabolism to slow a bit, but it's like somebody flipped a switch and I have the metabolic rate of an 80 year old. What gives? All of my pants are snug and I refuse to size up.

I know you can't spot reduce, but that is exactly what I need to do. I am going to pick up pilates and yoga 3 times a week at lunchtime in addition to my AM workouts, but I doubt they will be intense enough to make a difference. Has anybody beaten this? I am so depressed.

Please help me reduce the caboose!

Thanks.
Shopgirl
 
Perhaps you are gaining muscle? Have you lost inches? Try measuring yourself and go by the inches. How are your clothes fitting you?
 
It sounds like you aren't eating enough. I only need 1200 cals just for my organs to work, that doesn't inlude normal daily activity, let alone working out. Your body starts to store food as fat if you don't eat enough. Where else will it get energy for your workouts?

I would throw in one more small meal a day: a bowl of cereal, pb&j, cottage cheese with chopped veggies or fruit, yogurt and walnuts, a veggie sandwich with cheese, etc.

Are you getting plenty of fat as well as protein?

Missy
 
ummm I wonder if you actually need to eat more calories .. Like you are in starve mode . so your body hangs onto everything . ? . just a thought .
 
The weight I am putting on is all fat. I don't weigh myself, I measure and the inches are creeping higher. Went from 35 1/2 inch hips to 36 and 1/2 in 2 months! I've never had cellulite before and now my legs and hips are full of it. Underneath all of that fat is solid muscle (thanks to Cathe), I just need to get rid of that top layer.

Shopgirl
 
Also, how intense is the cardio you are doing? Maybe you need to up the intensity and add some interval workouts.
 
Hmmm maybe you need to take a long hard look at your diet. I know after I turned 30 my low fat diet just stopped working for me--I mean literally stopped, period, end of story. I switched to low carb after the weight gain got a little out of control.
 
I mix it up, but always have at least one of the 3 cardio workouts an interval workout and another one a circuit workout, the third is straight cardio. This week it is IMAX2 and then KickMax - (Bootcamp Challenge premix), and Tae Bo with Cardio & Weights and ME to cover upper body and Legs & Glutes tomorrow for the leg workout. Next week it will be 2 lower body workouts and then 1 upperbody, with 3 cardio. Honestly, I can't figure out what I am doing wrong fitness-wise. I'm thinking, it's gotta be diet.
 
Could you also be overtraining? Not completely sure, but I believe lack of results (and even weight gain) can be a symptom of this. You aren't eating much for how much you are working out (I think - I'm assuming you are doing Cathe tapes, which are longer than the BFL recommended 20 minutes) and interval work so intense. I've had this happen to me before where I'm working out like crazy, all advanced, and eating "great" (i.e. too few calories, not enough fat) and my body stops changing and actually gets a bit bigger and doughier. Backing off always helps!

Or, it could just be time to change up your routine...
 
The website was helpful. Depending on my activity, I'm between 1900 and 2000 calories a day. About 300 more than I am consuming now. Although it is hard to believe that if I eat more, I'll lose weight. Love the concept though. :D

I don't know if I am overtraining. I sweat, my heartrate gets up, but I'm not exhausted. Kickmax bootcamp does me in, but I recover within a half hour. Before when I have overtrained, I could barely get through a workout that I previously had had no trouble doing.

- Shopgirl
 
That is an awesome link! Thanks! According to mine, I should be eating 2400 calories a day. WOW! I think I eat between 1800-2000 now.

Charlotte~~
 
My suggestion would be to up your cardio to 6 days per week, and you can still do your weight training. Do some circuit workouts, or do a split routine. You can do 40 minutes of high charged cardio and still get in some weight work on the same day.

As for calories, it's still calories in calories out, so I would be in a big hurry to up my food intake. Up your fiber intake, yes, up your veggie intake, yes, and keep a detailed food journal.

Been there, done that, and I found that I have to keep up the cardio to keep my weight down. BFL may not be for you - I know it's not right for me.

Another option would be to keep your workouts the same, BUT be sure that on your weight training days you STILL get in activity. Here I go with my pedometer speech - get a pedometer and try to log 10,000 steps every day, 7 days a week. It WILL help.
Just Do It! :)
 
I do 1 day at the cals my body requires to maintain my weight and 3 days at a deficit of 20-30% and it's working like a charm! I've lost 5 pounds in 3 weeks after gaining 8 pounds!!! :7 I was not eating enough so my body went into starvation mode! :-( Someone else on this board lost even more weight FASTER using this method!

Just another idea for you!
Good luck with what ever you decide!:)
 
You've had a lot of great suggestions, but I just want to mention some short cuts that have helped me control my weight:

1. More sleep: The more I sleep, the easier it is for me to control my weight. Dr. Nordstrom even mentioned this phenomenon in one of her recent newsletters.

2. More low-fat dairy products: Somehow the combination of low-fat dairy and supplemental calcium (calcium malate) really seem to make it much easier to control my weight. I keep reading articles about this, and for me it really works.

HTH,
Nancy
 
Shopgirl,

This is exactly what happened to me at age 42. I found what works for me is eating at a 50/30/20 ratio. It has been magic for me since I started doing this a few months ago. Also, Wendy mentioned the calorie staggering where you eat at your lowest calorie intake one day and then up it. Many people have benefited from that as well. Also, stop eating starchy carbs after your third meal of the day.

It may be that you need to up your calories but I know how you feel about that. Kind of scary. I really don't think it's the workouts. I thought the same thing until I really looked closely at my eating.

BTW, I do at least 5 days of cardio for 45 minutes and then two days split, upper and lower body weights and at least 30 minutes of cardio on each of the weight lifting days.

HTH
 
When I did the BFL program, I was leary to try Bill's cardio/weight program. But I did, and I lost a lot of inches. It didn't seem possible with only 60 minutes cardio per week. Anyhow, if you are doing more cardio and weights, I agree that you are not eating enough.
Also, I ate the 6 small meals per day and ate a lot more than I normally ate. If you call the 800 number in the book, they have nutritionists to walk you through your meal plan. They are very nice and helpful. Melissa
 
Thanks everybody. You've all given me very helpful ideas. I will try increasing my calories with lean protein and calcium and upping my cardio to 5 days a week. I think I'll also try the calorie staggering idea and see if it makes a difference.

Many, many thanks.
Shopgirl
 
Shopgirl,

I zigzag also. Sarah (imafitnessfreak) started me on this plan and it was like magic. Not that I snapped my fingers and there it was, I worked my butt off with my exercise program, upped my cardio, etc. then three days at 20-30% deficit and day #4 eat your recommended caloric intake, back to three days of the deficit, then #4 big calorie day and so on. I also follow at 50/30/20 ratio because my body performs better with a higher carb ratio, I feel sluggish when my protein number is over my carb number.

I was in starvation mode when I started and when I started this I started dropping weight and inches where I hadn't been able to before even with a high intensity exercise program.

HTH
 
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